ST HELENS gave the Vikings a lesson in finishing as they cruised to a 40-4 victory in front of a record crowd at Halton Stadium.

A solitary Keiron Cunningham try was all that separated the sides at the interval but the visitors stepped up a gear in the second half to run in half-a-dozen clinical scores.

A Paul Devlin try 10 minutes from time was all the Vikings could muster but Vikings coach Neil Kelly's chief concern was his side's defence in the last quarter of the match.

Kelly said: "We've put a lot of effort in and it's been a tough game despite the score line.

"A lot of that same effort could get better rewards another day but it's been a recurring theme this year that we've got to sort our defence out.

"We're just over-generous and leaking too many points too easily.

"We lacked a degree of creativity near their line but I can't really look much further than our defensive frailties.

"You've got to pay credit to the opposition today.

"They bounced back from a poor performance themselves last week and they'll be very pleased with their defence."

The first half was a very physical affair as both sides struggled to shake off the opposition's committed tackling.

If anything, the Vikings probably had a slighter greater share of possession but couldn't breach the Saints line.

Cunningham's try came from a typical, barnstorming dummy-half run close to the line but at only 4-0 down there was everything for Widnes to play for in the second period.

On 49 minutes Jason Hooper sent impressive Saints fullback Paul Wellens under the posts for a converted try and from that point on the visitors took complete control. Prop forward Keith Mason barged his way over and Micky Higham raced in from 70 metres after a quick tap by Cunningham.

At 22-0 the game was up for the Vikings and two tries from Darren Albert and another from Darren Smith for Saints gave the score line a slightly lopsided look.

Devlin's consolation effort came from a smart short pass from young substitute Stephen Myler that sent him on a 40-metre gallop to the line.

Kelly may take some comfort from the performance of debutant Aled James who had a solid game at right centre that was only slightly marred when he fluffed a late chance to register a debut try.

Widnes: Spruce; Demetriou; James; Hughes; Devlin (1t); Frame; Sheridan; Relf; Millard; O'Neill; Hay; Finnigan; Bird; Subs: Farrell; Cantillon; Mills; Myler.